4 A.M.

Sleep in our house with children has been a long struggle.  Otto took about a year to start sleeping though the night, though he is now a super champ!!  Mette still can be known to have bouts of crying in the night though she is getting much better.  You would think my body after four years would be craving long hours of straight through sleep, but here I am, at 4 A.M. writing to you because I am WIDE awake and have been for hours.  And, while I am wide awake, everyone else is snoozing away.  Including my baby brother tucked in a crib at the end of the hall outside the guest room :)

It may be the medicine I am taking.  I had a strange allergic reaction to something not yet determined and broke out in strange hives that would not go away.   Not wanting to look like a freak at Ben and Shannon's wedding in a few short weeks I reluctantly am taking a round of steroids.  For those of you who know me well enough to remember my last experience with this drug you should know I am as scared as you.  Last time I gained 15 pounds in two months and was MEAN and CRAZY.  I heard circus music in my head non-stop all day and yelled at the slightest thing. That time I had to take a higher dose and for much longer but still,  I warned all close to me I was taking this drug and told them to be sure to put me in my place if I start acting weird again.  I also explained this to my dr. when she suggested the meds.  She put me on a much lower dose and said if the hives went away (they did within hours!!) and I started feeling strange she would help me taper off them faster.  So far I don't feel crazy, and I am trying really hard to stick to a celery only diet!!  Ok, that may be a bit extreme but I am going to up my weekly dose of yoga, pilates and walking for sure.   I am however not really sleeping.

I am going to say that this is just a phase, like teething, or yelling "don't look at me" every time someone as much as glances at you (Mette) but in the back of my head I can't help thinking that medicine aside, I am not the first person in my family to experience this.  The flip side, maybe I can get more blogging and reading done.  That would be a nice bonus.  Now that the kids are sleeping better I have been able to read books again which is really lovely.  I could get used to this.

Speaking of the kids, they are doing great.  Grandpa Chris and Nona Jen are here this weekend with baby Harry and we are having a blast.  In the dark and being quiet I couldn't find the camera and cable but I will get some great photos up tomorrow.  Eric is also working on some more videos.

Otto continues his complete love of all things Lego and Star Wars.  We have also been watching the CARS 2 movie trailer A LOT these days.  He can't wait to see it.  This is going to be his first time going to the theatre and he is really excited.  It has also meant that he has been playing with his CARS movie cars more these days.  I have to say, it really warms my heart to see them get action again.  For so long they were such an important part of his day, seeing them sit all day in the drawer was a bit sad.  There were so many naps and bedtimes that he feel asleep clutching The King, or Boost or someone else, it makes me smile to hear their names again.  In a stroke of marketing genius this time around they are making Lego Cars 2 toys.  Yeah, we are going to need some of those.   Some amazing Canadian company even make a version of the trailer out of legos in stop motion.  It is awesome, watch it here, it has been high on our rotation for sure.

Speaking of watching things, Mette has fallen in love with the Little Mermaid.  Eric brought it home from work for her to watch this week and she has seen it at least 7 times since then.  She LOVES it.  It is the first movie that she wants to watch over and over again.  I remember going to the theatre with my brother Racer when he was two and it had just come out and him loving it as well.  We had it on VHS the  moment it was released.  I forgot how well I knew the movie until I watched the first scene again and the whole thing came flooding back to me.  We have been singing "Under the Sea" a lot here.  She is also still in love with My Little Pony.  I am starting to wonder if my jeans are going to have pony leg marks on the back pockets since she often want me to carry one around as well.

We have starting just putting her in her crib at nap time despite her screams of protests, and I mean SCREAMS.  The screaming last for about 5 -10 minutes and then she is dead to the world.  She wakes up for the most part in such a better mood that it is totally worth it.  I may have let her sleep too long yesterday and paid the price with a MOODY little girl, but for the most part it has been getting better.

She also now insists on wearing  a dress everyday.  She also has to pick them out herself.  It is really cute.  She likes them as full and "party like" as possible.  I have been working on sewing her some more because when you change your outfit three to four times a day on a whim but manage to get each outfit a little dirty you better have  a stocked closet to choose from.  For the last three nights she has also been sleeping in a nightgown.  This is huge to her because it is a dress you can sleep in.  She had been in the habit of taking off her diaper at night if you did't have her in a straight jacket but she has been convinced that if she keeps her diaper on, she can sleep in a night gown and it has worked.  We didn't really have any nightgowns for her so I have made a few from old t-shirts with ruffles and flowers.  She loves them and they look super soft and comfy.  I am going to try and dye a few a light shade of pink to make them that much better.  For the first two nights she woke up totally dry.  She has been getting close to this for a while, tonight we are trying sleeping in underwear for the first time.  So far, so good.  I went in and checked a while ago.  We will see how this goes.  It is sounding like the kids will be getting new bunk beds soon and it seemed like a good time to make the plunge to diaper free sleeping.

I am super excited about the bunk beds, Grandpa is custom making them for the kids and they are going to be so great.  I got an old dresser from a friend which I am going to clean up and paint and I am going to make some floor cloths for their room as well.  With Otto's allergies I don't dare any rugs in his room but they have to much empty floor that this will be a great way to add some color and still have it easy to clean.

We are in high allergy season for Otto with trees and grass but we just changed his medicine and are handling it better now.  He is on Allegra twice a day and now has added a once daily nose spray.  He is fine with me doing it and it has made a HUGE difference.  Let's hope this continues to work for a while.

Well, this has been and epic post as eric would say and I didn't even have any pictures to break it up.  Thanks for hanging with me, if you did, I will try to get soem good eye candy up soon!  Now I am going to try reading....

Ok, I lied, I did have a few winners I recently transfered from my phone.

Here is Otto and Mette enjoying muffins at hot chocolates at our local coffee shop.  A popular outing around here!  Muffins are best eaten with a knife and whipped cream with a crazy tiny straw for those who were wondering.

The kids and I planted window boxes for Rachel as a welcome home gift from her Mom.  She sent the boxes to us and we filled them with flowers and took them over.  It was a fun little project.

 I don't know why, but I love this shot too!

Life in the Burg

Sentences and full paragraphs seem to evade me now, how about some random thoughts?

Some things that are making me happy: (in no particular order)

The dish drain next to one of the kitchen sinks is filled with little crocs and sandals of varying sizes all lined up drying after scrubbing days worth of mud off them earlier this evening.  The look so colorful and cheery.

Rache is home!!!  And she brought her two adorable children with her.  Her husband came as well, but I haven't seen him yet.  The youngest of her two is fantastically chubby and I want to eat her up.

A few nights ago I made myself the most fantastic pair of jammy pants ever.  It was a spur of the moment project after the kids went to bed and I LOVE them.  Must make more soon.

I finished a new dress for Mette which she wore today.  At the local coffee shop the server told her how much she liked her dress and Mette responded "my mommy sewed it and I was SO happy".  Pretty much sealed the deal that I will make her a million more.  This one is just ever so slightly short which on her is so cute.  Only at 2 can you get away with that, though the undergrads sure do try.

I bought a box of fudgesicles at the store a few weeks ago and every once and a while I treat myself to one.  They are so good.

Tonight is the last night that I have to be on bat (the animal) duty all night long.  Eric has been out of town for a few days and the first night he was gone there was a bat downstairs when the kids went down for breakfast.  Thankfully the cats had is stunned and on the ground but it was PISSED and I had to get it outside.  Catching the bats is ALL ERIC.   He has a butterfly net and his years of playing badminton have served him well.  He can catch them with amazing grace and ease.   There is nothing graceful or easy about how I deal with bats.  I normally have to "check on the kids" aka, hide in their room with them to keep them safe.  He will be home tomorrow and I am going to sleep so much better.

I painted our back deck, we got new chairs, planted more flowers, got hanging baskets and made a tablecloth and now our deck which has always been lovely seems like a magical garden.  On saturday after the kids went to bed eric and I sat outside and had a few drinks and got to enjoy the glow from our little solar lanterns I always admire from the window.  It was so lovely.  I only got two muzzy bites and only one swelled up so much I had what looked like two knees until yesterday so I count that has a huge success.

Life is good.

Frame of reference

Every time someone says "you made that!?" or "you fixed that?!" in disbelief, part of me rolls my eyes.  Yes, I make some clothes and curtains (and small children), I have been known to take apart toilets and tile bathrooms, if I need something my first thought is "how can I make that?" - really this is nothing.

Truth of the matter is, yes, I am somewhat handy but my real secret is I have good people to learn from, who will help me when I get in over my head.  I spent many an afternoon and evening as a child holding tools, flashlights, mortar buckets, finding hammers, remembering where the box of nails was last, but mainly watching.  You can learn a lot from watching.  Most importantly you learn that things CAN be made and fixed at home.  Creating things at home, and by things I mean walls, stairs, bathrooms, kitchens, floors, paintings, sculptures, clothing, musical instruments, silicone molds, tiles, furniture, whole buildings, worlds if you really get down to it, is possible and wonderful.  Sure you can call a plumber to fix a leak, but it feels so much better when you do it yourself and have the dirty hands to show for it.  I have a lot to learn but I look forward to each project and every chance I have to watch, help and learn.

The concept of actually being able to make things is disappearing.  So many people can't make things anymore.  We live in a culture where people buy everything.  I try hard to make or fix as many things as I can.  I take great pride in stocking a freezer and pantry with homemade foods from local sources.  More and more of our clothes are being made in my sewing room each day.  There are some house projects I am just not physically capable of doing, but everything else I tackle myself.  It seems totally normal to me that way.  I can't imagine NOT doing that.  I hope that Otto and Mette grow up with that same attitude.  They see me working and enjoying what I am doing and visiting my grandpa Chris and nona Jen where walls are plastered and the furniture made by grandpa Chris, then at the cabin where the building was built by grandma and grandpa and is decorated with grandma and uncle racer's paintings, I can only hope it will sink in to them as well.

To debut some of insane talents my family sports I am sharing a few links to their brand new websites:

My mom's new painting can be found here.  There are a few new directions shown.  I am working on scoring a few for our dining room!!  You may want some too.....

Grandpa's out of this world custom banjos deserve some of your time.  While you are there, be sure to click on the videos page.  Speaking of being able to make things, Eric shot and edited the two videos for the website, you can see some of his non-kid home movie work.

Then if you are interested in the family business you can check that out here

I think you will quickly see I am not nearly as talented as many of the other folks I hang out with.  Still I am very nice and who knows, maybe if I keep watching and learning I will get there.

Oh, while you are checking out their coolness, give a looksie to my brother's page.  His stuff is wonderful as well.

Cabin in tilt shift

People, please, if you like the videos, show eric some love.  Leave a comment or two.  Makes the boy smile!

Blueberries

There is much more to come, but this is priceless.

Off the grid

We spent the last few days off the grid at the cabin with Grandmom and Grandpa.  Due to really crappy weather and insane work schedules (eric) it has been forever since we have made it up there.  Since our last visit the kids have grown by leaps and bounds.  Otto now finishes his meals in a hurry, hops up from the table and rushes back outside to play.  Followed by his ever faithful dog companion, Hugo.  Gone are the days of constant supervision and worrying he would get lost.  He knows to stay close and since there is a limitless amount of things to explore close to home, he is set.

 When we were in New Orleans in March and the kids were here in grandparent heaven the seed was planted about having a camp fire and s'mores.  Grandmom and Grandpa held true to their promise and when we got there the camp fire was already set up along with chairs for everyone.

 Hero of the weekend no. 1, Grandmom!

Tied for no. 1, Grandpa!

 Living the good life.

 There really aren't words to describe how dirty the kids were by the end of the weekend, however the amount of "stuff" that came out of Mette's hair when I gave her a bath this evening was rather impressive.

 Not only had the kids never been to a real campfire cookout, eric had never had s'mores.  Happy to continue on my campaign to fill in the gaps in eric's life education I sat them all down for a sticky sweet treat.

 They were very popular.

With everyone!

 No trip to the cabin is complete without banjo music!

 Otto working on the fine art of cooking over a campfire and NOT dropping your food in the coals.

Our take on Easter:  

Fluffy, sugary pink bunny on a stick

Enter, Fire!

Delicious.  Isn't that what all the hype is about?  Bunnies at the stake, or am I getting something confused?

Cementing their super cool status, Grandmom and Grandpa had a tarp and sleeping bags so the kids could stay up late and enjoy the fire.

While they were all snuggled up I read some of The House at Pooh Corner.

Really this is nothing more than admiring a beautiful setting for breakfast and great light.

A little good cabin air and lots of running around can really wear a girl out.  Mette crashed out with Grandma on the hammock for a little pre-lunch snooze.

Otto LOVES the "Tarzan/Luke rescuing Leia" rope swing as he likes to call it.

It was a really wonderful few days and now all I can think about is how soon can we get up there again. The kids both had a wonderful time.  It is so great to have a place where they can learn how to just fart around in the woods.  Otto went on walks with Grandpa and learned how to identify deer poop which he thought was REALLY cool, we all went exploring and everyone ate well.

These pictures are really great, but wait until you see the videos eric is cutting together right now.  Seriously, we are sitting side by side on the couch both plugging away on editing on the computer.

We are so romantic.

Mother's Day

I have a backlog of about a million blog posts that I have been wanting to get to but haven't had time (really sorry about that) but I had to share one quick story on Mother's Day.

Today, eric was extra kind and let me sleep in, despite Mette getting up at 5:30. He even brought me breakfast in bed at a much more humane hour. I was still snuggled in bed with my coffee when Mette came bounding into our room.

She came running up to me and said "Happy Mother's Day Mommy!!!"

How cute, I thought, eric must have sent her up. Then she got all excited and said, "I have a special present for you" With this, she attempted to climb on the bed to show me her "special present".

Special is one way to describe it. In her hand was the instruction manual for Otto's new booster seat, proving she this was a mission of her own design. She was so excited to give it to me. She snuggled into the bed next to me and asked me to read it to her.

So I did. We made it five whole pages before she lost interest.

I am guessing it is going to take a long time before any gift tops that one!

Hoping you had a wonderful Mother's Day, or just plain great Sunday.

I now have my dress for the wedding made and eric is finally done teaching and final projects have been delivered. Let the blogging begin again. Including pictures of my dress which is awesome!!!